The American pronunciation that is taught in North American schools is called General American pronunciation (or GenAm). It is the variety of English pronunciation that is used in government schools and on national television in North America. It makes up about 90% of the English heard on television, radio, movies and podcasts. It originated from the speech patterns of the Eastern interior United States, according to Wikipedia. General American pronunciation is the pronunciation presented in English course books and dictionaries published in North America. And unlike Received Pronunciation, General English pronunciation is rhotic, meaning the ‘r’ is always pronounced:

far /fa:r /

computer /kəmpju:tər /

bird /bɜ:rd /

confirm /kənfɜ:rm /

Other differences between RP and General American Pronunciation

The other critical difference between these two varieties of English is vowel sounds in words. In some cases, the same word will be pronounced the same in RP, whereas in General English, they will be pronounced differently. Have a look at the following examples:

words

RP

General American

or – awe

court - caught

sore–saw

farther–father

formerly–formally

ɔ: - ɔ:

kɔ:t - kɔ:t

sɔ: - sɔ:

fa:ðə - fa:ðə

fɔ:məli - fɔ:məli

ɔ:r - a:

kɔ:rt - kɒt

sɔ:r - sa:

fa:ðər - fa:rðər

fɔ:mərli - fɔ:məli

If you are thinking about taking an English course in Singapore, you may want to think about which accent you want to learn. The fact is, RP is taught in the government schools in Singapore; however, with the increase in American media and entertainment, General American pronunciation is becoming an increasingly common sound on the streets. You will want to learn the accent that will best suit your purpose: are you going to move to England or North America? What do your English colleagues use? Do you have friends that speak with one accent or the other? Ideally, you want to be able to understand both accents easily; fortunately, English courses in Singapore will try to give you exposure to as many accents as possible, to help you understand spoken English in the real world – and Singapore has English speakers from every part of the world! Ease of learning is also something to consider. Obviously, you’ll prefer to learn whichever pronunciation is easier for you. But remember, don’t try to be perfect, unless you want to sound like you’re from American or England.

To listen to the differences between RP and General English pronunciation, check out this youtube video: